Search results for "COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE"

Nicotine enhances antisaccade performance in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls

2013

Abstract Nicotine has been proposed to be a cognitive enhancer, particularly in schizophrenia patients. So far, the published studies of nicotine effects on antisaccade performance in schizophrenia patients only tested participants who were deprived smokers. Thus, we aimed to test both smoking and non-smoking patients as well as healthy controls in order to extend previous findings. Moreover, we employed a paradigm using standard and delayed trials. We hypothesized that, if nicotine is a genuine cognitive enhancer, its administration would improve antisaccade performance both in smoking and non-smoking participants. A total of 22 patients with schizophrenia (12 smokers and 10 non-smokers) a…

Cognitive Reserve Proxies Do Not Differentially Account for Cognitive Performance in Patients with Focal Frontal and Non-Frontal Lesions

2020

AbstractObjective:Cognitive reserve (CR) suggests that premorbid efficacy, aptitude, and flexibility of cognitive processing can aid the brain’s ability to cope with change or damage. Our previous work has shown that age and literacy attainment predict the cognitive performance of frontal patients on frontal-executive tests. However, it remains unknown whether CR also predicts the cognitive performance of non-frontal patients.Method:We investigated the independent effect of a CR proxy, National Adult Reading Test (NART) IQ, as well as age and lesion group (frontal vs. non-frontal) on measures of executive function, intelligence, processing speed, and naming in 166 patients with focal, unila…

Cognitive impairment and consumption of mental healthcare resources in outpatients with bipolar disorder.

2020

Cognitive dysfunction is a major predictor of functional outcomes, and loss of occupational functioning is usually linked with a higher cost of illness. However, the association between cognitive impairment and consumption of health resources has not been studied in bipolar disorder to date. This study aims to examine this relationship. This is an observational, retrospective study of a representative sample of euthymic outpatients between 18 and 55 years, fulfilling DSM 5 criteria for bipolar disorder and recruited at a catchment area in Spain. Cognitive performance was screened with the Spanish version of the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP-S), and several variables of…

Being in the Past and Perform the Future in a Virtual World: VR Applications to Assess and Enhance Episodic and Prospective Memory in Normal and Path…

2020

The process of aging commonly features a gradual deterioration in cognitive performance and, in particular, the decline of memory. Despite the increased longevity of the world's population, the prevalence of neurodegenerative conditions, such as dementia, continues to be a major burden on public health, and consequently, the latest research has been focused on memory and aging. Currently, the failure of episodic and Prospective memory (PM) is one of the main complaints in the elderly, considered among the early symptoms of dementia. It is therefore increasingly important to define more clearly the boundaries between normal and pathological aging. Recently, researchers have begun to build an…

Is APOE ε4 associated with cognitive performance in early MS?

2020

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of APOE polymorphisms on cognitive performance in patients newly diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).MethodsThis multicenter cohort study included 552 untreated patients recently diagnosed with CIS or RRMS according to the 2005 revised McDonald criteria. The single nucleotide polymorphisms rs429358 (ε4) and rs7412 (ε2) of the APOE haplotype were assessed by allelic discrimination assays. Cognitive performance was evaluated using the 3-second paced auditory serial addition test and the Multiple Sclerosis Inventory Cognition (MUSIC). Sum scores were calculated to approximate the overall cognitive performance and memo…

Three-Way Interactions Among Interruptions/Multitasking Demands, Occupational Age, and Alertness: A Diary Study

2015

In this study, we examined the within-person relationships between workday “cognitive” stressors (multitasking demands and workflow interruptions) and strain (situational well-being throughout the day and irritation in the evening). We hypothesized that occupational age, in terms of job tenure and an indicator of functional age (alertness), would moderate these relationships in that employees with low experience and low alertness would suffer most from the stressors. We conducted a 5-day diary study in a sample of 123 nurses, with 4 measurements per day (3 taken during the work shift and 1 taken in the evening), and 1 survey (occupational age) and computer-based cognitive performance test b…

Depression and cognitive deficits as long-term consequences of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

2017

BACKGROUND Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is an acute life-threatening microangiopathy with a tendency of relapse characterized by consumptive thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and spontaneous von Willebrand factor–induced platelet clumping leading to microthrombi. The brain is frequently affected by microthrombi leading to neurologic abnormalities of varying severity. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS The aim of this observational cohort study was to investigate the prevalence of depression and cognitive deficits in 104 patients having survived acute TTP. TTP survivors were repeatedly assessed by means of different standardized questionnaires to evaluate depression (ID…

Social defeat in adolescent mice increases vulnerability to alcohol consumption

2014

This study employs an oral operant conditioning paradigm to evaluate the effects of repeated social defeat during adolescence on the reinforcing and motivational actions of ethanol in adult OF1 mice. Social interaction, emotional and cognitive behavioral aspects were also analyzed, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) experiments were performed to study gene expression changes in the mesocorticolimbic and hypothalamus-hypophysis-adrenal (HHA) axis. Social defeat did not alter anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze or cognitive performance in the passive avoidance and Hebb-Williams tests. A social interaction test revealed depression-like symptoms and social subordination b…

PM441. Long term atypical antipsychotic treatment improves cognitive performance in schizophrenia but not surpassing conventional antipsychotic drugs…

2016

Moral Attitudes Toward Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement (PCE): Differences and Similarities Among Germans With and Without PCE Experience

2018

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE), the use of illicit and/or prescription drugs to increase cognitive performance, has spurred controversial discussion in bioethics. In a semi-structured interview study with 60 German university students and employees, differences and similarities in moral attitudes toward PCE among 30 experienced participants (EPs) vs. 30 inexperienced participants (IPs) were investigated. Substances EPs used most often are methylphenidate, amphetamines, tetrahydrocannabinol and modafinil. Both EPs and IPs addressed topics such as autonomous decision making or issues related to fairness such as equality in test evaluation and distortion of competition. While most…